Rosewood boys sweep series from Princeton

Princeton played it close to the vest in the first half. Rosewood opened things up in the second half.

The Eagles got the better end of the decision in a 74-49 victory over the Bulldogs in the Carolina 1-A Conference regular-season finale for both teams Friday evening.

Rosewood earned the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and advances to semifinal-round play Thursday at Mount Olive College. Princeton is the No. 4 seed and faces fifth-seeded Spring Creek on Tuesday evening at Ayden-Grifton.

Friday night's game started off slowly as Princeton controlled the tempo and kept Rosewood off the scoreboard by employing a zone defense packed inside the key.

The Eagles led 14-12 after one period and 31-25 at the intermission.

"I thought we played well in the first half and we dictated the pace of the game," Princeton head coach Jeff Davis said. "In the second half, Rosewood made a little run and it forced us out of the zone and when we did, they hit some shots and got away from us."

Rosewood picked up the pace in the third quarter and pulled away when Dee Mabry and Jyontae Raynor hit back-to-back 3-pointers that ignited a 9-1 run. The Eagles lead ballooned to 53-40 after three quarters.

Princeton lost its offensive touch in the fourth period and scored just nine points. Rosewood increased its lead to 25 points and head coach Daniel Mitchell gave his reserves playing time in the final minutes.

"We pushed the ball better in the second half," Mitchell said. "When we got out and ran it led to easy baskets and when we had to play in the half court we did a better job of getting the ball to the post."